Herbie West End

I have been trying their soups for the past two weeks. There is always a queue around lunch time (obviously lots of companies offices around here). The fresh sandwiches do seem very tempting, I must say.
I think it’s the little things that make the difference: big selection of soups (at least four per day, sometimes 6!), home-​made bread, Lurpak butter for spreading, Fresh orange juice, Maple syrup latte coffee…
Of course, consistently high quality of the provided food as well is highly appreciated.
No surprise I’m regular there!!!
Give it a go and I bet you will enjoy it!

Although it has been a while since my last visit, I need to review this fantastic place!
They have a large variety of organic and local produce available — the breads are delicious and wholesome. There a ‘filling counter’ where you can pick & choose what to have on your sandwich, baguette or roll. When available I tend to go for the Brown multi-​seeded granary with medium cooked roast beef, black pepper, some English mustard and red onion. Yumm!
Their soups are daily made and are packed with flavours. This is the West End so expect to pay a premium for your food. (not fair but that is the way it is) — Herbie at least something to give back on your hard earned cash! (oh, and they have a loyalty card too)
I say for a slightly more luxurious lunch you can visit them, you won’t be disappointed.

Holy quacamole. Or more accurately, holy bacon and all things good that should be in a quiche. The flaky, but thick pastry case. The Chicago deep-​dish style of the quiche (meaning, it was so deep and huge and packed FULL of the egg filling), and the filling itself was packed FULL of bacon and the veggie one was packed FULL of spinach. I mean, every aspect of this quiche is done in mega proportions that leant itself to the ultimate quiche. Like the Ultimate Fighting Championship but the Ultimate Quiche Experience (UQE, Trademarked (pending)).
So Herbie’s are a bakers and they do sandwiches and bread (oh my the bread). I’d have to say it wasn’t known to me until I tried some at the Brass Monkey where they were holding a fundraised event and supplied the sandwiches and quiche. But I since discovered Herbie’s provides bread to some of the biggest lunch places in town — Earthy, and I. J. Mellis (the godfathers of Scottish cheese in Edinburgh) and also further afield to places in Glasgow. That’s got to be good bread if it’s exported to the West Coast.
I also believe they are mostly about the bread, sandwiches and quiches rather than cakes, donuts, etc. They do have scones (scones as big as your FACE apparently).
So in a city full of sandwich shops, bakers and street after street of lunch-​time options, I think Herbie’s in the West End is a cut above the rest, and a quiche filling higher than the others, in terms of both quality, craftmanship and taste. Get the bacon quiche, you won’t regret it.

Finding a decent outlet for sandwiches and other items of a take away nature that suits your lunch time requirements can be a tricky investigative process. If you’re going to give somewhere your lunch time custom on a daily basis, then the place has got to be a cut above, because there’s nothing more disappointing than having had a stressful morning and looking forward to your lunch, then being sorely underwhelmed by your first ravenous chomp into a panini lacking in flavour or with not quite enough salad leaves.
With Herbie, thankfully, you can buy your favourite lunchtime creation, safe in the knowledge it’ll definitely rank highly on the tastiness scale. There is an ace choice of daily soups on offer, more than usual for a sandwich shop I would say, plus there’s a super range of panini combinations, and other breads and fillings to select from.

Right next door to Nikki’s sandwiches lies Herbie, «A shop for quality food without pretence» I quote from their website.
True to their quote, they serve quality food without being pretentious. Every visit I’ve made had been pleasantly complimented by cheery staff which takes the blow of spending that little bit more for a decent lunch. Their range of breads are exceptional and the sandwiches are top notch too.
With so many average delis around Edinburgh, Herbie stands out amongst the crowd.